ot- plugging mice holes!!

[Dave from MN]

Ok, barn is clean, remember its a big barn. Last years clean out resulted in no seen mice, but we baited anyway. This year, for what ever reason now that the barn is clean I have litterally thousands of mice. The baiting is happening now, using a different brand than last year to avoid allowing the to develop resistancy. I will in the next week need to start filling all the holes and crevices they have enlarged for their tunnels. What do you guys think would be best, silicone caulking, tar, the foam insulation in a can? Little buggers. I also am considering placing a 4-5"deep x 2' chipped granite all along the perimeter of the barn bringing it above the bottom edge of the bottom sheet of steel. Any advice would be appreciated. Off to put out a few more pails of bait!

 

[Coloken]

Give up. There is no way you can plug mouse holes.They must be able to come in through a nail hole. Friend built brand new house--high priced and no way any holes. Its a farm house and with in a month had mice. Just keep D-con or whar ever out all the time. Cats are worth there weight in gold.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Steel wool has been my choice. Stuff it in real tight so they can't tug it back out.

 

[Allan in NE]

Dave!

Stop it! See Kenny's advice below.

Barns have mice and the only way to get rid of 'em is to totally quit using the barn and remove all feedstuffs, which is why they are there in the first place.

Not trying to push ya around, but you're working in an equivalent of a black hole there Ol' Son. :>)

Allan

 

[old]

If you can put steel wool in the hole then fill that with the foam insulation stuff. They will try to chew through it but the steel wool will stop them
Hobby farm

 

[Michael Soldan]

I have a bank barn,run around 45 head, have feed in the grainary, straw and hay in the mow..used to have mice and a few rats, then a neighbour gave me three cats who begat several more, I have 12 cats in the barn, I feed them cat food to keep them there and keep them happy, I have not seen one sign of a rat or a mouse in the last three years, I have often seen a cat with a mouse in its mouth..a few good cats will eradicate a barn full of mice..and I claim the costs of the cats on my farm expenses for tax purposes..I tell the Revenue services that I can deduct mouse and rat bait or cat food...which would they like??? They don't argue about the deduction

 

[Dave from MN]

I cant have cats in the barn, contract stipulation. I think I will try to get quite a few to hang around the outdoors and pole buildings.

 

[Don-Wi]

Mice aren't really a problem and don't bother us much. We'd rather see them than rats, and most years we do. We don't bait till we see rats. rats and mice don't co-habitate on our farm.

In the old pig barn where my grandpa and my brothers raised poultry, the rats would come up through the concrete floors. To slow 'em down, my brothers patched the holes up with concrete with broken glass mixed in. Most of those patches lasted till that building got torn down.

Donovan from Wisconsin

 

[Dave from MN]

No rats here, hopefully never see them. I hear they are awful hard to get rid of. Freind of mine has them all over at his dairy, under the feed bunks, under the barn foundation, under the pole building slab. I dont even want to get any straw from there because I dont want them to relocate. 50 cats on that place and they all just watch the rats rather than pounce on em.

 

[Teebogr81]

If you can't have cats....how about a small dog? I have miniature dachsunds and my little female kills every rat/mouse she sees. Course she doesn't climb very well but we have way fewer rats than before she came around.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Cats and D Con might no be a good mix. Mice like to run along walls. Put a stick of wood from the floor to a bucket with some grain floating on top. Mice can not swim over the edge of the bucket.

 

[Matt Agnel]

Cats are the best I have two for my big old barn but for the house I got a Pest Repeller that plug in and cover 500sq ft
I think I got it at Home Hardware

 

[Larry59]

I had problems with mice and some small animals getting into my chicken house. ... Was told about moth balls laid around outside of it. .. guess something about the smell they don't like. Any way that was end of problem for me.

 

[DW in indy]

I agree with the steel wool or small wire. Works every time. But you do have to fill every little hole because they can get in a space the diameter of a pencil.

 

[Mark - IN.]

Well, find the one hole you know they're likely to be coming in. Mount a loaded shotgun with a trip string from the trigger to the mouse hole, and... Nope, sorry, that's field rats that works for.

If its a barn barn, there probably won't be much you can do cause there's too many places to plug with steel wool. Steel wool works great around pipes and stuff, not barns so much. Barn cat will work great. Not too many barn cats, just one. A barn owl would do it too, but probably don't have one of them. Get the pet store guy to order you a couple of "shrews". They look like little mice, don't mind the cold, will kill and tear a mouse to shreds. They eat 8 times their body weight per day, but don't grow. They are vicious little guys. If were the size of a poodle, would eat people. If were the size of a rottweiler, would eat grizzly bears. They are pound for pound the most vicious animal on planet earth. If your pet store guy can get a couple for you, they may look cuddly and cute, wear leather gloves when you pickup out of the box. Better yet, open the box, lay it on its side, run. You're from Minnesota? I thought you guys had shrews everywhere in the woods and stuff. No? Go out to the woods and catch you a couple of them.

 

[Don-Wi]

Rats are definately hard to get rid of. Took lots of bait and time to get rid of them all, but as soon as we started seeing mice again we quit baiting.

Mice are welcome, rats are not. I know mice can spread disease and what not, but to be truthfull, what part of farming doesn't carry some risk of disease? Mice can be irritating, but that's why extra seed goes in a steel drum with a tight lid, and we don't bale oat hay.

Donovan from Wisconsin